The Presidents of the American States and the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Meeting in Punta del Este, Uruguay
RESOLVED to give more dynamic and concrete expression to the ideals of Latin American unity and of solidarity among the peoples of America, which inspired the founders of their countries;
DETERMINED to make this goal a reality within their own generation, in keeping with the economic, social and cultural aspirations of their peoples;
INSPIRED by the principles underlying the inter-American system, especially those contained in the Charter of Punta del Este, the Economic and Social Act of Rio de Janeiro, and the Protocol of Buenos Aires amending the Charter of the Organization of American States;
CONSCIOUS that the attainment of national and regional development objectives in Latin America is based essentially on self-help;
CONVINCED, however, that the achievement of those objectives requires determined collaboration by all their countries, complementary support through mutual aid, and expansion of external cooperation;
PLEDGED to give vigorous impetus to the Alliance for Progress and to emphasize its multilateral character, with a view to encouraging balanced development of the region at a pace substantially faster than attained thus far;
UNITED in the intent to strengthen democratic institutions, to raise the living standards of their peoples and to assure their increased participation in the development process, creating for these purposes suitable conditions in the political, economic and social as well as labor fields;
RESOLVED to maintain a harmony of fraternal relations in the Americas, in which racial equality must be effective;
PROCLAIM
The solidarity of the countries they represent and their decision to achieve to the fullest measure the free, just, and democratic order demanded by the peoples of the Hemisphere.
THE PRESIDENTS OF THE LATIN AMERICAN REPUBLICS resolve to create progressively, beginning in 1970, the Latin American Common Market, which shall be substantially in operation in a period of no more than fifteen years. The Latin American Common Market will be based on the complete development and progressive convergence of the Latin American Free Trade Association and of the Central American Common Market, taking into account the interests of Latin American countries not yet affiliated these systems. This great task will reinforce historic bonds, will promote industrial development and the strengthening of Latin American industrial enterprises, as well as more efficient production and new opportunities for employment, and will permit the region to play its deservedly significant role in world affairs. The ties of friendship among the peoples of the Continent will thus be strengthened.
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, for his part, declares his firm support for this promising Latin American Initiative.
THE UNDERSIGNED PRESIDENTS AFFIRM THAT:
We will lay the physical foundations for Latin American economic integration through multinational projects
Economic integration demands a major sustained effort to build a land transportation network and to improve transportation systems of all kinds so as to open the way for the movement of both people and goods throughout tile Continent; to establish an adequate and efficient telecommunications system; to install inter-connected power systems; and to develop jointly international river basins, frontier regions, and economic areas which include the territory of two or more countries.
We will join in efforts to increase substantially Latin-American foreign-trade earnings
To increase substantially Latin American foreign-trade earnings, individual and joint efforts shall be directed toward facilitating nondiscriminatory access of Latin American products in world markets, toward increasing Latin American earnings from traditional exports, toward avoiding frequent fluctuations in income from such commodities, and, finally, toward adopting measures that will stimulate exports of Latin American manufactured products.
We will modernize the liquid conditions of our rural populations, raise agricultural productivity in general, and increase food production for the benefit of both Latin America and the rest of the world
The living conditions of the rural workers and farmers of Latin America will be transformed, to guarantee their full participation in economic and social progress. For that purpose, integrated programs of modernization, land settlement, and agrarian reform will be carried out as the countries so require. Similarly, productivity will be improved and agricultural production diversified. Furthermore, recognizing that the Continent's capacity for food production entails a dual responsibility, a special effort will be made to produce sufficient food for the groping needs of their own peoples and to contribute toward feeding the peoples of other regions.
We will vigorously promote education for development
To give a decisive impetus to education for development, literacy campaigns will be intensified, education at all levels will be greatly expanded, and its quality improved so that the rich human potential of their peoples may make their maximum contribution to the economic, social, and cultural development of Latin America. Educational systems will be modernized taking full advantage of educational innovations, and exchanges of teachers mud students will be increased.
We will harness science and technology for the service of our peoples
Latin America will share in the benefits of current scientific and technological progress so as to reduce the widening gap between it and the highly industrialized nations in the areas of production techniques and of living conditions. National scientific and technological programs will be developed and strengthened and a regional program will be started; multinational institutes for advanced training and research will be established; existing institutes of this kind in Latin America will at the same time be strengthened and contributions will be made to the exchange and advancement of technological knowledge.
We will expand programs for improving the health of the American peoples
The fundamental role of health in the economic and social development of Latin America demands that the prevention and control of communicable diseases be intensified and that measures be taken to eradicate those which can be completely eliminated by existing techniques. Also programs to supply drinking water and other services essential to urban and rural environmental sanitation will be speeded up.
Latin America will eliminate unnecesasry military expenditures
THE PRESIDENTS OF THE LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES, conscious of the importance of armed forces to the maintenance of security, recognize at the same time that the demands of economic development and social progress make it necessary to devote to those purposes the maximum resources available in Latin America.
Therefore, they express their intention to limit military expenditures in proportion to the actual demands of national security in accordance with each country's constitutional provisions, avoiding those expenditures that are not indispensable for the performance of the specific duties of the armed forces and. where pertinent, of international commitments that obligate their respective governments. With regard to the Treaty on the Banning of Nuclear Arms in Latin America, they express the hope that it may enter into force as soon as possible, once the requirements established by the Treaty are fulfilled.
IN FACING THE PROBLEMS CONSIDERED IN THIS MEETING which constitute a challenge to the will of the American governments(1) and peoples, the Presidents proclaim their faith in the basic purpose of the inter-American system; to promote in the Americas free and democratic societies, existing under the rule of law whose dynamic economies, reinforced by growing technological capabilities, will allow them to serve with ever-increasing effectiveness the peoples of the Continent, of whom they announce the following program.
1. Principles, objectives, and goals
Economic integration is a collective instrument for accelerating Latin American development and should constitute one of the policy goals of each of the countries of the region. The greatest possible efforts should be made to bring it about, as a necessary complement to national development plans.
At the same time, the different levels of development and economic and market conditions of the various Latin American countries must be borne in mind, in order that the integration process may promote their harmonious and balanced growth. In this respect, the countries of relatively less economic development and, to the extent required, those of insufficient market, will have preferential treatment in matters of trade and of technical and financial cooperation.
Integration must be fully at the service of Latin America. This requires the strengthening of Latin American enterprise through vigorous financial and technical support that will permit it to develop and supply the regional market efficiently. Foreign private enterprise will be able to fill an important function in assuring achievement of the objectives of integration within the pertinent policies of each of the countries of Latin America.
Adequate financing is required to facilitate the economic restructuring and adjustments called for by the urgent need to accelerate integration.
It is necessary to adopt all measures that will lead to the completion of Latin American integration, above all those that will bring about, in the shortest time possible, monetary stability and the elimination of all restrictions, including administrative, financial, and exchange restrictions, that obstruct the trade of the products of the area.
To these ends, the Latin American Presidents agree to take action on the following points:
(a) Beginning in 1970, to establish progressively the Latin American Common Market, which should be substantially in operation within a period of no more than fifteen years.
(b) The Latin American Common Market will be based on the improvement of the two existing integration systems: the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA) and the Central American Common Market (CACM). The two systems will initiate simultaneously a process of convergence by stages of cooperation, closer ties, and integration, taking into account the interest of the Latin American countries not vet associated with these systems, in order to provide their access to one of them.
(c) To encourage the incorporation of other countries of the Latin American region into the existing integration systems.
2. Measures with regard to the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA)
The Presidents of the member states of LAFTA instruct their respective Ministers of Foreign Affairs, who will participate in the next meeting of the Council of Ministers of LAFTA, to be held in 196T, to adopt the measures necessary to implement the following decisions:
(a) To accelerate the process of converting LAFTA into a common market. To this end, starting in 197O, and to be completed in a period of not more than fifteen years, LAFTA will put into effect a system of programmed elimination of duties and all other nontariff restrictions, and also a system of tariff harmonization, in order to establish progressively a common external tariff at levels that will promote efficiency and productivity, as well as the expansion of trade.
(b) To coordinate progressively economic policies and instruments and to harmonize national laws to the extent required for integration. These measures will be adopted simultaneously with the improvement of the integration process.
(c) To promote the conclusion of sectoral agreements for industrial complementation, endeavoring to obtain the participation of the countries of relatively less economic development.
(d) To promote the conclusion of temporary subregional agreements, with provision for reducing tariffs within the subregions and harmonizing treatments toward third nations more rapidly than in the general agreements, in keeping with the objectives of regional integration. Subregional tariff reductions will not be exended to countries that are not parties to the subregional agreement, nor will they create special obligations for them.
Participation of the countries of relatively less economic development in all stages of the integration process and in the formation of the Latin American Common Market will be based in the provisions of the Treaty of Montevideo and its complementary resolutions, and these countries will be given the greatest possible advantages, so that balanced development of the region may be achieved.
To this same end, they have decided to promote immediate action to facilitate free access of products of the LAFTA member countries of relatively less economic development to the market of the other LAFTA countries. and to promote the installation and financing in the former countries of industries intended for the enlarged market.
The countries of relatively less economic development will have the right to participate and to obtain preferential conditions in the subregional agreements in which they have an interest.
The situation of countries characterized as being of insufficient market shall be taken into account in temporary preferential treatments established to the extent necessary to achieve a harmonious development in the integration process.
It is understood that all the provisions set forth in this section fall within or are based upon the Treaty of Montevideo.
3. Measures with regard to the Central American economic integration programs
The Presidents of the member states of the Central American Common Market commit themselves:
(a) To carry out an action program that will include the following measures, among others.
(1) Improvement of the customs union and establishment of a Central American monetary union;
(2) Completion of the regional network of infrastructure;
(3) Promotion of a common foreign-trade policy;
(4) Improvement of the common market in agricultural products and implementation of a joint, coordinated industrial policy
(5) Acceleration of the process of free movement of manpower and capital within the area;
(6) Harmonization of the basic legislation required for economic integration.
(b) To apply, in the implementation of the foregoing measures, and when pertinent, the temporary preferential treatment already established or that may be established, in accordance with the principle of balanced development among countries.
(c) To foster closer ties between Panama and the Central American Common Market, as well as rapid expansion of trade and investment relations with neighboring countries of the Central American and Caribbean region taking advantage, to this end, of their geographic proximity and of the possibilities for economic complementation; also, to seek conclusion of subregional agreements and agreements of industrial complementation between Central America and other Latin American countries.
4. Measures common to Latin America Countries
The Latin American Presidents commit themselves:
(a) Not to establish new restrictions on trade among Latin American countries, except in special cases, such as those arising from equalization of tariffs and other instruments of trade policy, as well as from the need to assure the initiation or expansion of certain productive activities in countries of relatively less economic development.
(b) To establish, by a tariff cut or other equivalent measures, a margin of preference within the region for all products originating in Latin American countries, taking into account the different degrees of development of the countries.
(c) To have the measures in the two preceding paragraphs applied immediately among the member countries of LAFTA, in harmony with the other measures referring to this organization contained in the present chapter and, insofar as possible, to extend them to non-member countries in a manner compatible with existing international commitments, inviting the latter countries to extend similar preferences to the members of LAFTA, with the same qualification.
(d) To ensure that application of the foregoing measures shall not hinder internal readjustments designed to rationalize the instruments of trade policy made necessary in order to carry out national development plans and to achieve the goals of integration.
(e) To promote acceleration of the studies already initiated regarding preferences that LAFTA countries might grant to imports from the Latin American countries that are not members of the Association.
(f) To have studies made of the possibility of concluding agreements of industrial complementation in which all Latin American countries may participate, as well as temporary subregional economic integration agreements between the CACM and member countries of LAFTA.
(g) To have a committee established composed of the executive organs of LAFTA and the CACM to coordinate implementation of the foregoing points. To this end, the committee will encourage meetings at the ministerial level, in order to ensure that Latin American integration will proceed as rapidly as possible, and, in due course, initiate negotiation of a general treaty or the protocols required to create the Latin American Common Market. Latin American countries that are not members shall be invited to send representatives to these meetings and to those of the committee of the executive organs of LAFTA and the CACM.
(h) To give special attention to industrial development within integration, and particularly to the strengthening of Latin American industrial firms. In this regard, we reiterate that development must be balanced between investments for economic ends and investments for social ends.
5. Measures common to member countries of the Organization of American States ( OAS)
The Presidents of the member states of the OAS agree:
(a) To mobilize financial and technical resources within and without the hemisphere to contribute to the solution of problems in connection with the balance of payments, industrial readjustments, and retraining of the labor force that may arise from a rapid reduction of trade barriers during the period of transition toward the common market, as well as to increase the sums available for export credits in intra-Latin American trade. The Inter-American Development Bank and the organs of both existing integration systems should participate in the mobilization of such resources.
(b) To mobilize public and private resources within and without the hemisphere to encourage industrial development as part of the integration process and of national development plans.
(c) To mobilize financial and technical resources to undertake specific feasibility studies on multinational projects for Latin American industrial firms, as well as to aid in carrying out these projects.
(d) To accelerate the studies being conducted by various inter-American agencies to promote strengthening of capital markets and the possible establishment of a Latin American stock market.
(e) To make available to Central America within the Alliance for Progress, adequate technical and financial resources' including those required for strengthening and expanding the existing Central American Economic Integration Fund for the purpose of accelerating the Central American economic integration program.
(f) To make available, within the Alliance for Progress and pursuant to the provisions of the Charter of Punta del Este, the technical and financial resources needed to accelerate the preparatory studies and work involved in converting LAFTA into a common market.
Chapter 2. Multinational Action for Infrastructure ProjectsThe economic integration of Latin America demands a vigorous and sustained effort to complete and modernize the physical infrastructure of the region. It is necessary to build a land transport network and improve all types of transport systems to facilitate the movement of persons and goods throughout the hemisphere; to establish an adequate and efficient telecommunications system and interconnected power systems; and jointly to develop international watersheds, frontier regions and economic areas that include the territory of two or more countries. In Latin America there are in existence projects in all these fields, at different stages of preparation or implementation, but in many cases of the completion of prior studies, financial resources, or merely the coordination of efforts and the decision to bring them to fruition are lacking.
The Presidents of the member states of the GAS agree to engage in determined action to undertake or accelerate the construction of the infrastructure required for the development and integration of Latin America and to make better use thereof. In so doing, it is essential that the groups of interested countries or multinational institutions determine criteria for assigning priorities, in view of the amount of human and material resources needed for the task.
As one basis for the criteria, which will be determined with precision upon consideration of the specific cases submitted for study, they stress the fundamental need to give preferential attention to those projects that benefit the countries of the region that are at a relatively loner level of economic development.
Priority should also be given to the mobilization of financial and technical resources for the preparation and implementation of infrastructure projects that will facilitate the participation of landlocked countries in regional and international trade.
In consequence, they adopt the following decisions for immediate implementation:
1. To complete the studies and conclude the agreements necessary to accelerate the construction of an inter-American telecommunications
network.
2. To expedite the agreements necessary to complete the Pan American Highway, to accelerate the construction of the Bolivarian Highway (Carretera Marginal de la Selva) and its inaction with the Trans Chaco Highway and to support the studies and agreements designed to bring into being the new highway systems that will join groups of countries of continental and insular Latin America, as well as the basic works required to develop water and airborne transport of a multinational nature and the corresponding systems of operation. As a complement to these agreements, negotiations should be undertaken for the purpose of eliminating or reducing to a minimum the restrictions on international traffic anal of promoting, technical and administrative cooperation among land, water and air transport enterprises and the establishment of multinational transport services.
3. To sponsor studies for preparing joint projects in connection with watersheds, such as the studies commented on the development of the River Plate basin and that relating to the Gulf of Fonseca.
4. To allocate sufficient resources to the Preinvestment Fund for Latin American Integration of the IDB for conducting studies that will make it possible to identify and prepare multinational projects in all fields that may he of importance in promoting regional integration. In order that the aforesaid Fund may carry out an effective promotion effort, it is necessary that an adequate part of the resources allocated may be used without reimbursement or with reimbursement conditioned on the execution of the corresponding projects.
5. To mobilize within and outside the hemisphere, resources in addition to those that will continue to be placed at the disposal of the countries to support national economic development programs, such resources to be devoted especially to the implementation of multinational infrastructure projects that can represent important advances in the Latin American economic integration process. In this regard, the IDB should have additional resources in order to participate actively in the attainment of this objective.
The economic development of Latin America is seriously affected by the adverse conditions in which its international trade is carried out. Market structures, financial conditions, and actions that prejudice exports and other income from outside Latin America are impeding its growth and retarding the integration process. All this causes particular concern in view of the serious and growing imbalance between the standard of living in Latin American countries and that of the industrialized nations and, at the same time, calls for definite decisions and adequate instruments to implement the decisions.
Individual and joint efforts of the member states of the OAS are essential to increase the incomes of Latin American countries derived from, and to avoid frequent fluctuations in, traditional exports, as well as to promote new exports. Such efforts are also essential to reduce any adverse erects on the external earnings of Latin American countries that may be caused by measures which may be taken by industrialized countries for balance of payments reasons
The Charter of Punta del Este, the Economic and Social Act of Rio de Janeiro and the new provisions of the Charter of the OAS reflect a hemispheric agreement with regard to these problems, which needs to be effectively implemented; therefore, the Presidents of the member states of the OAS agree:
1. To act in coordination in multilateral negotiations to achieve, without the more highly developed countries' expecting reciprocity, the greatest possible reduction or the elimination of tariffs and other restrictions that impede the access of Latin American products to world markets. The Government of the United States intends to make efforts for the purpose of liberalizing the conditions Directing exports of basic products of special interest to Latin American countries, in accordance with the provision of Article 37(a) of the Protocol of Buenos Aires.
2. To consider together possible systems of general nonreciprocal preferential treatment for exports of manufactures and semimanufactures of the developing countries, with a view to improving the condition of the Latin American export trade.
3. To undertake a joint effort in all international institutions and organizations to eliminate discriminatory preferences against Latin American exports.
4. To strengthen the system of intergovernmental consultations and carry them out sufficiently in advance, so as to render them effective and ensure that programs for placing and selling surpluses and reserves that affect tab exports of the developing countries take into account the interests of the Latin American countries.
5. To ensure compliance with international commitments to refrain from introducing or increasing tariff and nontariff barriers that affect exports of the developing countries, taking into account the interests of Latin America
6. To combine efforts to strengthen and perfect existing international agreements, particularly the International Coffee Agreement, to obtain favorable conditions for trade in basic products of interest to Latin America and to explore all possibilities for the development of new agreements.
7. To support the financing and prompt initiation of the activities of the Coffee Diversification Fund, and consider in due course the creation of other funds to make it possible to control the production of basic products of interest to Latin America in which there is a chronic imbalance between supply and demand.
8. To adopt measures to make Latin America export products more competitive In world markets.
9. To put in operation as soon as possible an inter-American agency for export promotion that will help to identify and develop new export lines and to strengthen the placing of Latin American products in international markets, and to improve national and regional agencies designed for the same purpose.
10. To initiate such individual or joint action on the part of the member states of the OAS as may be required to ensure effective and timely execution of the foregoing agreements, as well as those that may be required to continue the execution of the agreements contained in the Charter of Punta del Este, in particular those relating to foreign trade.
With regard to joint action, the Inter-American Committee on the Alliance for Progress (CIAP) and other agencies in the region shall submit to the Inter-American Economic and Social Council (IA-ECOSOC), for consideration at its next meeting, the means, instruments, and action program for initiating execution thereof.
At its annual meetings, IA-ECOSOC shall examine the progress of the programs under way with the object of considering such action as may ensure compliance with the agreements concluded, inasmuch as a substantial improvement in the international conditions in which Latin American foreign trade is carried on is a basic prerequisite to the acceleration of economic development.
In order to promote a rise in the standard of living of farmers and an improvement in the condition of the Latin American rural people and their full participation in economic and social life, it is necessary to give greater dynamism to agriculture in Latin America, through comprehensive programs of modernization, land settlement, and agrarian reform when required by the countries.
To achieve these objectives and to carry out these programs, contained in the Charter of Punta del Este, it is necessary to intensify internal efforts and to provide additional external resources.
Such programs will be oriented toward increasing food production in the Latin American countries in sufficient volume and quality to provide adequately for their population and to meet world needs for food to an ever-increasing extent, as well as toward improving agricultural productivity and toward a diversification of crops, which will assure the best possible competitive conditions for such production.
All these development efforts in agriculture must be related to the overall development of the national economics in order to harmonize the supply of agricultural products and the labor that could be freed as a result of the increase in farm productivity with the increase in demand for such products and with the need for labor in the economy as a whole.
This modernization of agricultural activities will furthermore create conditions for a development more in balance with the effort toward industrialization.
To achieve these goals, the Latin American Presidents undertake:
1. To improve the formulation and execution of agricultural policies and to ensure the carrying out of plans, programs, and projects for preinvestment, agricultural development. agrarian reform, and land settlement, adequately coordinated with national economic development plans, in order to intensify internal efforts and to facilitate obtaining and utilizing external financing.
2. To improve credit systems, including those earmarked for the resettlement of rural workers who are beneficiaries of agrarian reform, and for increased productivity, and to create facilities for the production, marketing, storage, transportation, and distribution of agricultural products.
3. To provide adequate incentive, including price incentives, to promote agricultural production under economic conditions.
4. To foster and to finance the acquisition and intensive use of those agricultural inputs which contribute to the improvement of productivity, as well as the establishment and expansion of Latin American industries producing agricultural inputs, particularly fertilizers, pesticides' and agricultural machinery.
5. To ensure the adequacy of tax systems that affect the agricultural sector, so that they may contribute to the increase of productivity, more production, and better land distribution.
6. To expand substantially programs of specialized education and research and of agricultural extension, in order to improve the training of the rural worker and the education of technical and professional personnel, and, also, to intensify animal and plant sanitation campaigns.
7. To provide incentives and to make available financial resources for the industrialization of agricultural production, especially through the development of small and medium industry and the promotion of exports of processed agricultural products.
S. To facilitate the establishment of multinational or international programs that will make it possible for Latin America to supply a larger proportion of world food needs.
9. To foster national programs of community development and of self-help for small-scale farmers, and to promote the creation and strengthening of agricultural cooperatives.
By recognizing the importance of the state objectives, goals and means, the Presidents of the members state of the OAS undertake, within the spirit of the Alliance for Progress, to combine intensified internal efforts with additional external support especially earmarked for such measures.
They call upon CHAP, when analyzing the agricultural sector as included in national development plans, to bear in mind the objectives and measures indicated herein, giving due attention to agrarian reform programs in those countries that consider these programs an important basis for their agricultural progress and economic and social developments.
A. Education and Culture
Education is a sector of high priority in the overall development policy of Latin American nations.
The Presidents of the member states of the OAS recognize that, during the past decade, there has been development of educational services in Latin America unparalleled in any other period of the history of their countries.
Nevertheless it must be admitted that:
(a) It is necessary to increase the effectiveness of national efforts in the field of education;
(b) Educational systems should be more adequately adjusted to the demands of economic, social, and cultural development;
(c) International cooperation in educational matters should be considerably intensified in accordance with the new standards of the Charter of the OAS.
To these ends, they agree to improve educational, administrative and planning systems; to raise the quality of education so as to stimulate the creativity of each pupil; to accelerate expansion of educational systems at all levels; and to assign priority to the following activities related to economic, social, and cultural development:
1. Orientation and, when necessary, reorganization of educational systems, in accordance with the needs and possibilities of each country, in order to achieve
(a) The expansion and progressive improvement of preschool education and extension of the period of general education;
(b) An increase in the capacity of secondary schools and the improvement of their curricula;
(c) An increase in opportunities following general education, including opportunities for learning a trade or a specialty or for continuing general education;
(d) The general elimination of barriers between vocational and general education;
(e) The expansion and diversification of university courses, so that they will include the new professions essential to economic and social development;
(f ) The establishment or expansion of graduate courses through professional schools;
(g) The establishment of refresher courses in all branches and types of education, so that graduates may keep their knowledge up to date in this era of rapid scientific and technological progress;
(h) The strengthening and expansion of adult education programs;
(i) The promotion of special education for exceptional students.
2. Promotion of basic and advanced training for teachers and administrative personnel; development of educational research and experimentation, and adequate expansion of school building programs.
3. Broadening of the use of educational television and other modern teaching techniques.
4. Improvement of rural elementary schools to achieve a level of quality equal to that of urban elementary schools, with a view to assuring equal educational opportunities to the rural population.
5. Reorganization of vocational education, when necessary, taking into account the structure of the labor force and the foreseeable manpower needs of each country's development plan.
6. An increase in private financing of education
7. Encouragement of local and regional communities to take an edective part in the construction of school buildings and in civic support to educational development.
8. A substantial increase in national scholarship and student loan and aid programs.
9. Establishment or expansion of extension services and services for preserving the cultural heritage and encouraging intellectual and artistic activity.
10. Strengthening of education for international understanding and Latin American integration.
Multinational Efforts
1. Increasing international resources for the purposes set forth in this chapter.
2. Instructing the appropriate agencies of the OAS to:
( a) Provide technical assistance to the countries that so request:
(i) In educational research, experimentation, and innovation:
(ii) For training of specialized personnel;
(iii) In educational television. It is recommended that study be made of the advisability of establishing a multinational training center in this field;
(b) Organize meetings of experts to recommend measures to bring national curricula into harmony with Latin American integration goals;
(c) Organize regional volunteer teacher programs;
(d) Extend inter-American cooperation to the preservation and use of archeological, historic and artistic monuments.
3. Expansion of OAS programs for fellowships, student loans, and teacher exchange.
National educational and cultural development efforts will be evaluated in coordination by CIAP and the Inter-American Council for Education, Science, and Culture (now the Inter-American Cultural Council).
B. Science and Technology
Advances in scientific and technological knowledge are changing the economic and social structure of many nations. Science and technology offer infinite possibilities for providing the people with the well-being that they seek. But in Latin American countries the potentialities that this wealth of the modern world offers have by no means been realized to the degree and extent necessary.
Science and technology offer genuine instruments for Latin American progress and must be given an unprecedented impetus at this time. This effort calls for inter-American cooperation, in view of the magnitude of the investments required and the level attained in such knowledge. In the same way, their organization and implementation in each country cannot be effected without a properly planned scientific and technological policy within the general framework of development.
For the above reasons the Presidents of the member states of the OAS agree upon the following measures:
Internal Efforts
Establishment, in accordance with the needs and possibilities of each country, of national policies in the field of science and technology, with the necessary machinery and funds, the main elements of which shall be:
1. Promotion of professional training for scientists and technicians and an increase in their numbers.
2. Establishment of conditions favoring full utilization of the scientific and technological potential for solving the economic and social problems of Latin America, and to prevent the exodus of persons qualified in these fields.
3. Encouragement of increased private financial contributions for scientific and technological research and teaching.
Multinational Efforts
1. Establishment of a Regional Scientific and Technological Development Program designed to advance science and technology to a degree that they will contribute substantially to accelerating the economic development and well-being of their peoples and make it feasible to engage in pure and applied scientific research of the highest possible quality. This Program shall complement Latin American national programs in the area of science and technology and shall take special account of the characteristics of each of the countries.
2. The Program shall be oriented toward the adoption of measures to promote scientific and technological research, teaching, and information; basic and advanced training of scientific personnel; and exchange of information. It shall promote intensively the transfer to, and adaptation by, the Latin American countries of knowledge and technologies originating in their regions.
3. The Program shall be conducted through national agencies responsible for scientific and technological policy, through institutions national or international, public or private-either now existing or to be established in the future.
4. As part of the Program, they propose that multinational technological and scientific training and research institutions at the postgraduate level be established, and that institutions of this nature already existing in Latin America be strengthened. A group, composed of high-ranking, qualified persons, experienced in science, technology, and university education, shall be established to make recommendations to the Inter-American Council for Education, Science, and Culture (now the Inter-American Cultural Council) on the nature of such multinational institutions, including such matters as their organization, the characteristics of their multinational administration, financing, location, coordination of their activities among themselves and with those of pertinent national institutions, and on the other aspects of their operation. The aforementioned group, selected and convoked by the Inter-American Council for Education, Science, and Culture (now the Inter-American Cultural Council) or, failing this, by CIAP, shall meet within 120 days after the close of this meeting.
b. In order to encourage the training of scientific and technological personnel at the higher academic levels, they resolve that an Inter-American Fund for Scientific and Technological Training shall be established as part of the Program, so that scientists and research workers from Latin American countries may pursue advanced scientific and technological studies, with the obligation to engage in a period of scientific work in Latin America.
6. The Program shall be promoted by the Inter-American Council for Education, Science, and (culture (now the Inter-American Cultural Council), in cooperation with CIAP. They shall coordinate their activities with similar activities of the United Nations and other interested organizations.
7. The Program may be financed by contributions of the member states of the inter-American system, inter-American or international institutions, technologically advanced countries, universities, foundations, and private individuals.
C. Health
Improvement of health conditions is fundamental to the economic and social development of Latin America.
Available scientific knowledge makes it possible to obtain specific results, which, in accordance with the needs of each country and the provisions of the Charter of Punta del Este, should be utilized to attain the following objectives:
(a) Control of communicable diseases and eradication of those for which methods for total elimination exist. Pertinent programs shall receive international coordination when necessary.
(b) Acceleration of programs for providing drinking-water supplies, sewerage, and other services essential to environmental sanitation in rural and urban areas, giving preference to lower income groups. On the basis of studies carried out and with the cooperation of international financing agencies, national revolving fund systems shall be used to assure the continuity of such programs.
(c) Greater and more rapid progress in improving nutrition of the neediest groups of the population, taking advantage of all possibilities offered by national effort and international cooperation.
(d) Promotion of intensive mother and child welfare programs and of educational programs on overall family guidance methods.
(e) Priority for basic and advanced training of professional, technical, administrative, and auxiliary personnel, and support of operational and administrative research in the field of health.
(f) Incorporation, as early as the preinvestment phase, of national and regional health programs into general development plans.
The Presidents of the member states of the OAS, therefore, decide:
1. To expand, within the framework of general planning, the preparation and implementation of national plans that will strengthen infrastructure in the field of health.
2. To mobilize internal and external resources to meet the needs for financing these plans. In this connection, to call upon CIAP, when analyzing the health sector in national development programs, to take into account the objectives and needs indicated.
3. To call upon the Pan American Health Organization to cooperate with the governments in the preparation specific programs relating to these objectives.
The Latin American Presidents, conscious of the importance of the armed forces in maintaining security, at the same time recognize that the demands of economic development and social progress make it necessary to apply the maximum resources available in Latin America to these ends.
Consequently, they express their intention to limit military expenditures in proportion to the actual demands of national security, in accordance with each country's constitutional provisions, avoiding those expenditures that are not indispensable for the performance of the specific duties of the armed forces and, where pertinent, of international commit-meets that obligate their respective governments.
With regard to the Treaty on the Banning of Nuclear Arms in Latin America they express the hope that it may enter into force as soon as possible, once the requirements established by the Treaty are
DONE at Punta del Este, Uruguay. in the English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish languages, this Pan American Day the fourteenth of April of the year one thousand nine hundred sixty-seven, the seventy-seventh anniversary of the founding of the inter-American system.
(1) When the term "Latin America" is used In this text, It Is to be understood that It includes all the member states of the Organization of American States, except the United States of America. The term "Presidents" includes the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. The term "Continent" comprises both the continental and insular areas. Back
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Source: Inter-American relations; collection of documents, legislation, descriptions of inter-American organizations, and other material pertaining to inter-American affairs. Compiled by Barry Sklar and Virginia M. Hagen Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1972 |